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MacArthur Foundation Bestows "Genius Award" on ISSCR Board Member

23 September, 2008

Deerfield, IL –Sally Temple, an International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Board Member was one of 25 individuals honored by the 2008 MacArthur Foundation’s Fellows program. Temple, scientific director of the New York Neural Stem Cell Institute, has served on the ISSCR board for two years and has been a member of the society since 2004.

“I am honored to be recognized by the MacArthur Foundation. This wonderful award focuses attention on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at this most exciting time for the field. This award will seed new experimental directions in the study of stem cells for nervous system development and repair. We will do our utmost to live up to the spirit of the MacArthur Foundation’s aims of promoting creative advances and thank them for this great opportunity,” Temple said.

The MacArthur Fellows Program recognizes exceptional creativity and promise for important future advances, affording fellows with the opportunity to pursue their own creative, intellectual and professional inclinations.

“I am absolutely thrilled about this award. I have known Sally for many years and am a great admirer of her work,” said ISSCR President Fiona M. Watt, of the Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Research Institute. “Sally is a valued member of the ISSCR Board of Directors and we are very proud of her accomplishments.”

Temple’s research traces the mechanisms by which embryonic progenitor cells divide into highly specialized neurons and support cells. She focuses on the intermediate stages of development to understand the interactions of partially differentiated stem cells to create complex, heterogeneous tissues like the central nervous system. In 2007, Temple founded the New York Neural Stem Cell Institute with the mission to use nervous system stem cells to develop therapeutics for eye, brain and spinal cord disorders.

“Sally has always been a remarkably creative and highly respected scientist and is a stalwart leader of the ISSCR. We are pleased and honored to have her as a member of our Board of Directors,” said George Q. Daley, immediate past president of ISSCR, Children’s Hospital Boston.

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is an independent, nonprofit membership organization established to promote and foster the exchange and dissemination of information and ideas relating to stem cells, to encourage the general field of research involving stem cells and to promote professional and public education in all areas of stem cell research and application.